SPILL ALBUM REVIEW: PERE UBU – TROUBLE ON BIG BEAT STREET

Pere Ubu
Trouble On Big Beat Street
Cherry Red Records

One could be forgiven for being confused as to what the actual year is when Sparks, Pere Ubu, Yes, and Jethro Tull are releasing new music. And it is a most excellent confusion. David Thomas and Pere Ubu are back with a new album, the first since 2019’s The Long Goodbye. Trouble On Big Beat Street is the perfect follow-up and it will sit comfortably with some of their classic albums, because this is classic Pere Ubu sound. David Thomas is the only consistent member since 1975, and through the decades he has not lost his edge.

In many ways, Pere Ubu has always been in the forefront of minimalistic alternative rock. They have been doing interesting things with the fewest instruments for a very long time, and although there are deviations from that sound, Thomas has returned and continues to do what he does best.

“I’m here to stay”, Thomas sings in the opening track, “Love Is Like Gravity”, and although it is a love song (well, it is a Pere Ubu love song, so not conventional), one can assume he is singing to the music world and his fans. Here, Thomas maintains that distinct Pere Ubu sound. And, although it is not dated, it does remind one of the older albums. “Crazy Horses” would have fit nicely on Song Of The Bailing Man, while “Uh Oh” brings “The Final Solution” to mind with such great lyrics such as “Tomorrow never turns out like it is supposed to/Tomorrow is a Turkish prison movie written by Hack…”. And throughout the entire album, “Big Beat Street” keeps making an appearance. In Thomas’s world, you are not going to shake this street off. Taking a page from The Beatles, he ends the album full of disturbing stories with “Good Night”. A nice touch. “We had a few laughs, but now it is time for toodle oo”. I am not sure about laughs, but we were moved by the music.

After nearly 50 years, Thomas continues to make interesting, relevant, and impressive music. There is a great deal of beauty in what he writes and performs but he surrounds that beauty with the ugliness of the world, or in this case, “Big Beat Street”. This is an incredible piece of art, full of original sounds and songs. It is an album of its time and is very important. Let us enjoy Thomas’s world!

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